Hair dryer

ABSTRACT

A portable hair dryer structure is disclosed having rigid outer casing of the bonnet defining molded storage compartments on its top. A flat cover member is provided having a central portion extending diametrically thereacross and dividing the cover into two side portions connected to the central portion by living hinges. The central portion is attached to the top of the outer casing so the side portions overlie the compartments and the side portions are so contoured to provide access for manually gripping the central portion for a carrying handle.

United States Patent 1 Cunningham et a1. 14 1 Jan. 30, 1973 54 HAIR DRYER 3,495,343 2/1910 Duncanson ..34/72 [75] Inventors: Tim Cunningham, Pittsburgh, Pa.;

Earl Mccleerey Mansfield, Ohio Primary Exammerl(enneth W. Sprague Assistant Examiner-James C. Yeung [73] Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corporatlon, A0mey Henson 5 Arenz and Fred A.

Pittsburgh, Pa. winans [22] Filed: Feb. 3, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 112,230

A portable hair dryer structure is disclosed having rigid outer casing of the bonnet defining molded [52] US. Cl ..34/99 s11 rm. C1. ..A45d 20/00 wage mpmmems [58] Field of Search ..34/97, 90, 99, 100, 239, 202, A flat cover member is provided having a central por- 34/238, 243; 132/9, 75; 220/23 tion extending diametrically thereacross and dividing the cover into two side portions connected to the cen- [56] Reierences Cited tral portion by living hinges. The central portion is attached to the top of the outer casing so the side por- UNITED STATES PATENTS tions overlie the compartments and the side portions 3,550,285 12/1970 Omohundro ..34/97 are so contoured to provide access for manually 1,434,442 11/1922 Kohn et a1. ..l32/75 gripping the central portion for a carrying handle.

363,664 5/1887 Metzger ..220/23 3,362,086 1/1968 McLean ..34/99 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SHEET '3 0F 3 FIG. 3

HAIR DRYER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention;

The present invention relates to a portable hair dryer and more particularly to a hairdryer having a rigid hood providing storage areas for associated accouterments such as rollers, bobby pins, etc.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Portable hair dryers of the type generally contemplated by this invention are well known in the art as shown for example by U.S. Pat. No. 3,495,343. Such dryers generally include: a base housing a heater and fan means including an associated scroll having an air inlet and air outlet'and appropriate control means; a rigid hood for receiving a head of hair to be dried and generally including a perforated inner liner and an imperforate outer casing defining an air chamber therebetween with an air inlet to said chamber; and, an extensible air conduit and support means for supporting the hood above the base and directing the heated air from the base into the air chamber.

Further, hair dryers of this type generally provide a hood and base configuration such that, for purposes of transportability, the hood and base can be latched together to provide a generally closed unitary structure, with the support arm collapsed and enclosed in the space within the head, and exterior handle means generally on the closed end of the hood.

Typically, the base members of such hair dryers have a circular cross section, although other configurations, such as elliptical, could be used, with the matingsection of the hood generally the same configuration; however, the sides of the hood assume various shapes such as a truncated cone, as shown in the above-identified patent, or a semi-spherical dome, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,086, but all generally converging to a relatively small top area. Thus all rigid hood hair dryers provide air space between the inner liner and outer casing with those having a flat top configuration for the outer casing having a relatively large space. Heretofore, such space was not fully utilized in that it only increased the volume of the air chamber.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The hair dryer of the present invention provides a hood having an outer casing generally conforming to the shape of the base but with the sides converging only very slightly and generally defining a cylindrical configuration terminating in a substantially flat top to provide an even greater space between the outer casing and the inner liner but utilizing this space for storage purposes. A planar cover member is attached to the outer liner to cover the storage space and provide a flat top. The cover member is bisected by a central, generally rigid, member hingedly connected thereto- This central member also provides the handle member for carrying the dryer.

In addition to providing storage space, the cylindrical configuration utilizes the shelf space above the base, I

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the closed end of the rigid outer casing is sunken from its peripheral wall to define, in cooperationwith a concentric central wall an annular storagecompartment. A generally flat unitary cover member and handle means is secured to the outer casing to overlie the annular compartment with the handle extended diametrically across the top and connected to the cover member through a living hinge which provides ready access to the covered compartment.

DRAWING DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a portable hair dryer including the base, support and hood in an operating position and showing the generally cylindrical rigid hood of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the hood of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the hood taken along lines III-III of FIG. 2; and

FIG 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along lines IV--IV of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1 a hair dryer of the type generally previously discussed is shown in operating position and comprises a base 10 of any suitable shape, in this instance having a substantially stepped cylindrical configuration for enclosing the operating components of the dryer i.e., fan, motor, heater, etc., (not shown). The base 10 also defines a grill 11 comprising an air intake to the fan and depressed compartments 11(a) which can be used as receptacles for articles generally associated with a hair dryer such as curlers, bobby pins, etc. Latch means 12 are also secured on the base 10 which cooperates with the hood 16 of the dryer when in a closed position to releasably secure the base 10 and hood 16 together as is also well known. A control knob 13 is rotatably mounted on the base to provide manual control of the components housed therein.

A two-piece extensible hollow arm 14 is pivotally supported at one end on the base 10 as by hinge 15 so as to be in alignment with the airdischarge opening in the base when it is in the operating position shown. The other end of the arm 14 pivotally supports the hood 16 above andoutboard of the base 10 with the extensible arm 14 in addition to delivering the heated air to the hood, providing the adjustment to properly position the hood to suit the user.

As previously stated, the abovedescription is general to those portable hair dryers commonly referred to as hard-hat dryers and well known in the art as shown in the previously enumerated patents.

The instant invention is more specifically concerned with the hood 16 of such a hair dryer and for this purpose reference is now made to FIG. 3 wherein the hood 16 is shown to comprise generally two separably molded components, namely a perforate inner liner [8 and an outer casing 20. As is seen, the inner liner 18 is generally dome shaped for receiving the head of hair to be dryed and has a'plurality of apertures 19 molded therein. The inner liner terminates at its open end with an outer upturned peripheral collar portion 22.

The outer casing is also generally cylindrically shaped having a peripheral wall 24 coextensive with the collar portion 22 with the mating ends of the collar portion and the wall dove-tailed as at 26 to provide a generally sealed juncture of the two components. The peripheral wall 24 converges slightly in an upwardly direction so that its upper circumference is slightly less than the base circumference. However, the convergence 'is preferably relatively limited to provide a top area which is nearly as large as the base area so that the area available for a storage space is ample.

The peripheral wall of the outer casing terminates a distance above the top of the inner liner in a unitary molded top 28 thereby forming an air chamber 30 between the outer casing 20 and the inner liner 18 into which the air from the fan is delivered for exiting only to the apertures 19.

The top 28 of the outer casing 20 is contoured so as to depend into the space that would normally be a part of the air chamber 30. To this end the top 28 is generally depressed or sunken from its uppermost peripheral surface 32 to a lower surface 34 which, as is seen in FIG. 3, is generally contoured to conform to the shape of the adjacent inner liner l8. Surfaces 32 and 34 are joined by a wall 36 which has a small stepped portion generally adjacent surface 32 to provide a peripheral shoulder 38 for purposes to be explained later.

Wall 36 is generally circular except for two diametrically opposed projections 40 each of which define a small ledge 42 below and generally parallel with shoulder 38 and having an aperture 44 therein for a purpose also to be discussed later.

The lower surface 34 terminates radially inwardly of the wall 36 in another upstanding wall 46 generally concentric to wall 36 and itself terminating at a height which is generally in linewith shoulder 38. This circular trough formed by wall 36, lower surface 34 and wall 46 is partitioned into a plurality of separate compartments by generally vertical radial walls 48 (only two being shown in FIG. 2) extending above lower surface 34 and joining concentric walls 36 and 46. I

A centrally'disposed dished web portion 50 comprising a bottom 52 and an upwardly diverging side wall 54 joins the wall 46 a short distance from the top thereof.

In addition to the radial walls 48, concentric walls 36 and 46 are connected by two pairs of parallel ribs 56 and 58 each pair being generally diametrically opposed and, as more clearly seen in FIG. 4, defining, along with a generally horizontal bottom surface 60, a rather narrow and shallow depression. Each rib has a notch as at 62 in its top surface and the bottom surface 60 has a depending boss 64 having an aperture 66 therein which aligns with an upstanding boss 68 on an inner liner having a similar aperture 70. A-screw 72 is threadably inserted into the aligned holes to fasten the inner liner l8 and outer casing 20 securely together.

The various storage compartments defined by the concentric walls 36 and 46 and connecting radiating partitions 48 are covered by a separate unitary molded cover and handle means 74 comprising a circular generally planar member. having an outer periphery contiguous with shoulder 38.;The circularmember is bisected by a continuous cross member 78 diametrically extending thereacross dividing the member into two substantially semicircularportions 80 and 82 with each semicircular portion having a centrally disposed opening such as at 84 bounded by an edge generally contiguous to central walls 46 and the edge of the cross member 78. Each semicircular or more accurately' semiannular portion 80, 82 is joined to the cross member through a unitary molded living hinge means such as at 86.

When member 74 is properly oriented in overlying position on the top of the outer casing 20 it rests in nested relationship on shoulder 38 with the cross member generally supported by ribs 56 and 58. A boss 88 depending from the underside of the cross member has an aperture 90 mating with an aperture 92 in the outer casing for receiving a screw 94 and securely maintaining member 74 on the outer casing.,That portion of the cross member 78 which extends across the central dished portion 50 of the top is contoured as at 96 to provide a generally rounded handle with the openings 84 and the dished portion 50 providing accessibility for manually grasping the cross member 74 thereat.

Means for opening and closing each semicircular cover portion 80, 82 with respect to the compartments they cover is provided by finger apertures 98 provided therethrough adjacent a depending flexible hook 100 which cooperates with opening 44 in the outer casing to releasably latch each cover portion in closed position, with upward pulling at the apertures 98 providing sufficient force to deform the hooks 100 to a release position. A light metal escutcheon plate 102 is disposed on cross member 78 by any well known means but in this instance the plate has depending tabs which project through appropriate apertures in the cross member adjacent the notches 62 in the ribs. The notches 62 provide access means for inserting a tool, such as a screwdriver, to deform the tabs to retain the plate in place. In this manner all connections i.e. screws, are hidden.

The preferred embodiment describes a unitary molded articleproviding both the outer casing and the molded storage compartment; however, it is evident that the storage compartments could be molded separately from the casing and later attached thereto either permanently or removably as long as there is sufficient sealing relationship to'maintain an air chamber between the outer casing and inner liner/Further, it is also evident that, by eliminating the apertures in the top of the inner liner, the inner liner could be used as the base or floor of a storage area having access through the top of the outer casing.

It is seen that the above construction provides an outer casing generally utilizing to full advantage the space above the base when the hood'and base are latched in nested relationship and providing separate storage compartments, easily accessible through a flexible cover member. 7

Thercover member itself is generally planar to provide flat usable surfaces for supporting other articles thereon either for storage, display and stacking, and incorporates the handle means connected to the cover member by a living hinge to provide the unitarily molded article.

What is claimed is:

l. A portable hair dryer having a rigid hood assembly comprising:

an outer casing,

a perforate inner liner, said liner being nested in said casing and fixedly carried thereby in generally spaced relationship to define an air chamber therebetween;

said outer casing having a generally circular top with a central circular recess and a substantially annular storage recess surrounding the circular recess, and

an integral molded plastic handle-cover unit, the handle comprising a bar-like element secured diametrically across said top, the central recess providing a hand-receiving space for gripping the handle, the cover comprising a pair of semiannular lid elements being adapted to cover respectively the halves of the annular storage recess on the opposite sides of the handle, the lid elements each being connected at its opposite ends to opposite ends respectively of the handle by living hinges 2. A portable hair dryer as claimed in claim 1 wherein each lid element has an integral depending hook latch remote from the handle, and the top of the outer casing is formed with apertures aligned with the latches respectively, the portion of the top adjacent the apertures being adapted to be releasably frictionally engaged by the respective latches. 

1. A portable hair dryer having a rigid hood assembly comprising: an outer casing, a perforate inner liner, said liner being nested in said casing and fixedly carried thereby in generally spaced relationship to define an air chamber therebetween; said outer casing having a generally circular top with a central circular recess and a substantially annular storage recess surrounding the circular recess, and an integral molded plastic handle-cover unit, the handle comprising a bar-like element secured diametrically across said top, the central recess providing a hand-receiving space for gripping the handle, the cover comprising a pair of semiannular lid elements being adapted to cover respectively the halves of the annular storage recess on the opposite sides of the handle, the lid elements each being connected at its opposite ends to opposite ends respectively of the handle by living hinges.
 1. A portable hair dryer having a rigid hood assembly comprising: an outer casing, a perforate inner liner, said liner being nested in said casing and fixedly carried thereby in generally spaced relationship to define an air chamber therebetween; said outer casing having a generally circular top with a central circular recess and a substantially annular storage recess surrounding the circular recess, and an integral molded plastic handle-cover unit, the handle comprising a bar-like element secured diametrically across said top, the central recess providing a hand-receiving space for gripping the handle, the cover comprising a pair of semiannular lid elements being adapted to cover respectively the halves of the annular storage recess on the opposite sides of the handle, the lid elements each being connected at its opposite ends to opposite ends respectively of the handle by living hinges. 